Bhapa Chingri

About this Recipe...

Bhapa Chingri or steamed prawn in mustard and coconut gravy is a quintessential mouthwatering Bengali dish. Prawn or shrimp is Bengali’s all time favorite seafood and we make lots of dishes with this, such as  Chingri malai curry, Daab Chingri, Potol prawn, prawn with bottle gourd and many such dishes. Among them chingri malai curry and Bhapa Chingri are my favorite. This recipe is very easy to make, ready in no time and tastes extremely well.

Traditionally this recipe is made inside pressure cooker by steaming the curry in a stainless steel tiffin box in boiling water. My mother always used to make it in pressure cooker. But today I will share with you another easy and quick version of making it. I used my microwave to cook this curry. There is no difficulty to cook this curry, you just only need to combine and mix all the ingredients together in right quantity and microwave it for few minutes and the authentic Bengali delicacy is ready to enjoy. The slightly pungent taste of mustard paste and mustard oil makes the Bhapa Chingri a delicious dish. I would like to enjoy this dish with hot steamed rice.

Ingredients

• 15-20 Medium size shrimp deveined and washed
• Salt and sugar to taste
• 1 tsp Turmeric powder
• 1 tsp Black mustard seeds
• 1 tsp Yelłw mustard seeds
• 1 tsp Poppy seeds
• 2 Tbsp Freshly grated coconut or frozen coconut
• 1/2 Cup Coconut milk
• 2 tsp Green chili paste
• 2-3 green chillies slitted
• 2 Tbsp Mustard oil

Directions

1. First of all soak both kind of mustard seeds and poppy seeds in little water for at least half an hour.
2. Now sprinkle some salt and turmeric powder on the shrimp, coat it nicely and keep it aside.
3. Now on a blender, add the soaked mustard seeds and poppy seeds, turmeric powder and blend it to a fine paste.
4. Now take a microwave safe bowl and arrange the marinated shrimp pieces, next add the mustard seeds and poppy seeds paste, green chili paste, grated coconut, coconut milk, salt and sugar to taste.
5. Mix everything very gently, add 1/4 cup of water for the gravy, few slitted green chilies and drizzle some mustard oil on top.
   
6. Cover the bowl with a tight lid or plastic wrap and microwave it for 5 minutes.
7. After 5 minutes, take it out from the microwave, stir it gently and again microwave it for 2-3 minutes.
8. When the shrimps will change its color and the gravy will also cook nicely, take it out from the microwave.
9. Your bhapa chingri or steamed shrimp is ready, enjoy it with hot steamed rice.
   

Chingri Malai Curry

About this Recipe...

Chingri Maacher Malai Curry is a traditional dish from Bengal where Chingri or prawns are cooked in a mildly spiced thick creamy gravy made with coconut milk. This is one of my favorite prawn preparation. Usually this curry is prepared during special occasions, especially at the time of Noboborsho (Bengali new year). You can use any size of prawn or shrimp for this dish, tiger prawn or lobster also goes very well in this preparation. But today I am using medium size prawn for this curry.

Coconut milk is the core ingredient for this recipe. Back in home, coconut milk is not easily available in market in canned form and I have seen my mother to do lot of hard work to make this dish as she used to extract the fresh coconut milk from the freshly grated coconut and used that extracted coconut milk for this preparation. But life is very easy here and in every grocery store you will find the canned coconut milk very easily.

So back to today's dish, the recipe and the preparation for this dish is also very easy. You only required few basic ingredients handy and the dish will get ready very quickly. I love to enjoy this curry with hot steamed rice but you can have it with pulao or fried rice also.

Ingredients

• 15 medium size shrimp peeled, deveined and washed
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp Turmeric powder
• Mustard oil for frying the shrimp + 2Tbsp for making the curry
• 1 Bay leaf
• 1 One inch long cinnamon stick
• 2 Green cardamom
• 3-4 cloves
• 1/3 Cup Onion paste
• 1 Tbsp Ginger-garlic-green chili paste
• 1/2 tsp Red chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp Sugar
• 1 Cup Coconut milk

Directions

1. First of all marinade the shrimp with salt and turmeric powder and keep it aside for 20 minutes.
2. Now heat mustard oil in a pan and lightly fry the shrimp. When frying is done take it out from the pan and keep it aside.
3. In the same pan, heat some more oil and add bay leaf, cinnamon stick, cardamom and cloves for tempering.
4. Sauté them for few seconds, when you will get nice aroma from the spices then add onion paste to it.
5. Fry the onion paste till all the raw smells disappears from it.
6. Now add the ginger-garlic-green chili paste to it followed by turmeric and red chili powder to it and fry it till oil starts separating from it.
7. Now add salt and sugar to taste, mix it well and add half cup water to it.
8. When the gravy starts boiling, add half cup coconut milk to it and mix it well.
9. Cook it for some more time, when the gravy will become thick, add shrimp pieces to it and stir it gently.
10. Cook the shrimp for few more minutes in the gravy and add the remaining coconut milk to it.
11. Check the seasoning, if everything is all right, then switch off the flame.
12. Your chingri malai curry is ready, serve it with hot steamed rice and enjoy it.
    

Doi Maach

About this Recipe...

Today I am posting another bengali delicacy from my kitchen, a traditional and authentic fish recipe 'Doi Maach'. Here fish is cooked in spicy yogurt based gravy and the taste is very delicious that you want to have it again-n-again.

Traditionally Doi Maach is cooked with fresh water fish like rohu but here I didn't get rohu fish, hence decided to make it with tilapia. I think any thick, meaty fish works best for this recipe, however you can use your favorite fish like salmon, pomfret, all works great in this recipe.

From so many days I wanted to make doi maach, so today I thought to make it for our lunch. I bought this whole tilapia fish from Asian market and the fillets are cut perfectlly to cook this delicious curry. This is my version of Doi Maach, I made few minor changes in this recipe but the taste is as great as always.

Ingredients

• 5 Pieces Tilapia Fish fillet
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp Turmeric powder for marinating the fish + 1 tsp for the curry
• 1 Tbsp Mustard oil for frying the fish + 2Tbsp for making the curry
• 1 Bay leaf
• 1 One inch long cinnamon stick
• 3-4 cloves
• 1 Green cardamom
• 1/4 Cup Onion paste
• 1 Tbsp Ginger-garlic paste
• 1/2 Cup Yogurt
• 1/4 Cup Cashew nut and poppy seed paste
• 1 tsp Red chili powder
• 8-10 Raisins
• 1/2 tsp Sugar
• 2-3 green chillies slitted 

Directions

1. First of all marinade the fish fillet with salt and turmeric powder and keep it aside for 15-20 minutes.
2. Now in a pan, heat mustard oil and lightly fry the fish fillets. When done take them out from the pan and keep it aside.
3. Now on the same pan add some more oil if required and add bay leaf, cardamom, cinnamon stick and cloves for tempering.
4. Sauté them for few seconds and add onion paste to it. Fry it till the raw smell disappears from it.
5. Next add the ginger-garlic paste to it followed by turmeric and red chili powder and fry the spices till the oil starts leaving the sides of the pan.
6. Next whisk the 1/2 cup yogurt with some water and add this to the pan and mix well with everything.
7. Cover the pan with the lid and cook it for few minutes till the gravy starts boiling.
8. Now add the cashew nut and poppy seed paste to it, followed by salt, sugar and raisins to it and mix it nicely.
9. If you feel the gravy is too thick then add some water to it.
10. Let it come to a simmer and now add the fried fish fillets and Slitted green chillies to it.
11. Cook it for 4-5 minutes and switch off the flame.
12. Your doi Mach is ready to serve. Enjoy it with hot rice.

Fish Biryani

About this Recipe...

I love to eat fish and Fish Biryani is one of my favorite Biryani preparation. It doesn't require much preparation beforehand and doesn't take much time to cook. Biryani is a rice based dish which is flavored with spices, herbs, yogurt  and cooked with meat, seafood or simply veggies. There are so many different variations of cooking biryani. In different regions, the cooking process differs from one to another.
This recipe is one of the simplest method of cooking fish biryani. Here I have used salmon fish fillets to cook this biryani, you can use any fish of your choice. So here is my simple and delicious fish biryani recipe which has unique taste. I hope you will love this recipe as much as I did.

Ingredients

For Marination

• Fish fillets cut into small pieces
• 1 tsp Turmeric powder
• 1 tsp Black pepper powder
• 1 tsp Red chilli powder
• 2 tsp Lemon juice
• Salt as per taste
• Oil for frying the fish

Making Rice for Biriyani

• Basmati rice soaked in water for 1 hour
• 1 Tbsp Oil
• Salt as per taste
• 1 tsp Shah jeera or black cumin
• 2-3 Bay leaf
• 2 Pieces Cinnamon stick
• 3 Pieces Cardamom
• 5-6 Black pepper corn
• 4-5 Cloves

For layering the biriyani

• 1 Tbsp Ginger paste
• 1 Tbsp Garlic paste
• 1 tsp Green chilli paste
• 4-5 Slitted green chili
• 2 Tbsp Yogurt
• Salt as per taste
• 3 Tbsp Oil
• 1 Tbsp Biriyani masala
• 1 tsp Turmeric powder
• 2 tsp Red chilli powder
• 2 tsp Cumin powder
• 2 tsp Coriander powder
• 1 tsp Black pepper powder
• One medium size onion freied
• 1 handful Chopped mint and coriander leaves
• Saffron soaked in warm milk
• 1 Tbsp Clarified butter
• 1 tsp Garam masala powder
• 2 Tbsp Lemon juice

Directions

1. First of all marinate the fish pieces with all the spices, salt and lemon juice and keep in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
2. After 30 minutes take oil n a pan, when oil becomes hot lightly fry the fish pieces and keep aside.
3. While frying the fish take another vessel, boil water on that, add salt, oil and all the whole garam spices and cook the soaked basmati rice till it is 80% cooked.
4. Now on the same pan where you fried fish pieces, take some more oil and add ginger-garlic-green chili paste and sauté it for 30 seconds.
5. Now add yogurt and all the other spices including salt and biriyani masala and fry it, if required then add some water.
6. Now add half of the fried onions and chopped mint-coriander leaves, add the lemon juice and mix everything with the spices.
7. Now take 2 tbsp of that cooked spices from the pan and mixed it with the fish pieces. Now add your 80% cooked rice and layer it in the pan over the spices. On top of the rice add the fish pieces which is coated with the cooked spices.
8. Now add the remaining fried onions, saffron soaked milk and clarified butter on top and cover the lid for 10 minutes in medium flame and next 10 minutes in slow flame and the last 5 minute in sim. So total after 25 minutes switch off the flame and give a rest of another 10-15 minutes before opening the lid of the pan.
   Open the lid when you are ready to serve, and serve it hot with your favorite raita.
   
   Notes:
   1. You can use any fish fillets of your choice, here I have used salmon.
   2. You need to cook the biriyani in dam so use a lid which is close tightly so that the steam can't come outside or you can close the lid of the pan with aata dough.

Bengali Mustard Fish Curry

About this Recipe...

Fish curry with mustard paste is one of the most popular fish preparation in bengali cuisine. In this recipe mustard paste is the main ingredient which add a very unique flavor to this dish. The spicy and little pungent dish cooked in mustard oil with onion paste, green chili paste, black and yellow mustard seed paste and little poppy seed paste.

In traditional bengali cooking, mustard oil is used as a cooking medium to cook all the fish, meat and vegetable curry recipes. I usually use mustard oil for all my bengali fish and meat recipes and some of the authentic bengali vegetable dishes where the flavor of mustard oil is must. For a good, bengali mustard paste based recipe needs the flavor of mustard oil, so if you are preparing this dish then use mustard oil only.

We Bengalis are famous for our fish eating habits and preparing various kinds of fish recipes. This particular recipe goes very well with Hilsa fish but I am unable to get fresh Hilsa fish here. Hence preparing this dish with Salmon which is also a very flavorful fish. You can use other fishes also in this recipe. So let's see the ingredients and start making this dish.

Ingredients

• 4 Pieces Fish fillets
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp Turmeric powder for marinating the fish
• 1 Tbsp Mustard oil for frying the fish + 2Tbsp for making the curry
• 1/2 tsp Nigella seeds or kalaunji
• 1/4 Cup Onion paste
• 1 tsp Turmeric powder
• 1 Tbsp Green chili paste
• 1 Tbsp Black mustard seeds
• 1 Tbsp Yellow mustard seeds
• 1 Tbsp Poppy seeds
• 2-3 Slitted green chili
• 1/4 tsp Sugar (optional)

Directions

1. Soak both the mustard seeds and poppy seeds with little water for half an hour. Add little salt and blend it to a smooth paste.
2. Now marinate the fish with turmeric powder and salt and keep it aside for few minutes.
3. Now in a pan heat some mustard oil and fry the marinated fish fillets lightly and take it out from the pan.
4. Now on the same pan add some more mustard oil and add nigella seeds for tempering.
5. When it starts spluttering add onion paste and green chili paste and fry it until the raw smell can go away.
6. Now add the mustard and poppy seed paste to it followed by turmeric powder and salt to taste.
7. Mix everything well and add little water for the gravy and cook it till it comes to a boil.
8. Now add pinch of sugar, Slitted green chilies and fried fish fillets to the gravy.
9. Cook it for few more minutes so the fish can absorb the gravy nicely and switch off the flame.
10. Serve the fish curry with hot steamed rice or pulao and enjoy.

Baked Cajun Salmon

About this Recipe...

Baked Cajun Salmon is a baked fish recipe with Cajun spice mix. Coating the fish with aromatic herbs and spices and bake it to perfection to get the nice, crunchy taste of the fish.
This is always one of the way to have salmon at my home. I am a big fan of salmon and love this simple and spicy preparation. Have it as a side dish with pasta or risotto and you will enjoy the every single bite of this juicy dish.

Ingredients

• 2 Pieces Salmon fillet
• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
• Salt as per taste
• 1/2 tsp Black pepper powder
• 1/2 tsp Garlic paste
• 1 tsp Cajun spice mix
• 1/2 tsp Red chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp Lemon juice

Directions

1. Take the fish fillets and marinate it with all the spices, oil and lemon juice and keep it in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
   
2. Now preheat the oven for 400F and bake the fish for 10-12 minutes or until it's fully done.

Notes: Cajun spice mix is a blend of fresh spices and herbs and it is mainly used in the region of Louisiana. They are using it mainly in the Cajun style blackened fish or chicken. You can use it for your baked fish and chicken dishes. You can buy it from store or make the spice at your own.

Fish curry with Potato in Coconut gravy

About this Recipe...

Here I have combined two regional style of cooking in my fish curry recipe. The bengali style fish curry with potato and the coconut based gravy with a hint of tamarind, which is very popular kind of fish curry preparation in the state of Kerala.
So overall it's a spicy, tangy fish curry recipe which goes well with steamed rice.
I have used Salmon here, you can use any fish of your choice.

Ingredients

For Marination of the Fish

• 4 Pieces Fish fillets
• Oil for frying the fish
• 1 Tbsp Turmeric powder
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp Black pepper powder
• 1 tsp Lemon juice

For the Curry

• 1 Medium size potato cut into cubes
• 2 Tbsp Oil
• 1 tsp Mustard seeds
• 1 tsp Cumin seeds
• 1 medium size Chopped Onion
• 1 Tbsp Ginger-garlic paste
• 1 tsp Green chilli paste
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
• 1 tsp Red chilli powder
• 1 tsp Cumin powder
• 1 tsp Coriander powder
• 1 medium sized Tomato
• 2 Tbsp Freshly grated coconut
• 2 Tbsp Tamarind pulp
• Salt as per taste
• 1/2 tsp Garam masala powder
• Finely chopped cilantro for garnishing

Directions

1. Take the fish fillets in a bowl, add salt, turmeric powder, black pepper powder and lemon juice, mix everything with the fish and keep in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
2. After 30 minutes heat up oil in a pan and lightly fried the marinated fish pieces and keep aside, in the same pan fry the potato cubes and keep aside.
3. In that pan if required then take some oil for the gravy, heat it up and add mustard seeds and cumin seeds and let it splutter.
4. Now add chopped onion and fry it till gets light brown color and then add ginger-garlic-green chili paste and the other dry spices and fry it till oil separates from the spices.
5. Now take the tomatoes and grated coconut in a blender, make a paste and add it to the pan and mix with the spices.
6. Now add water to the pan for the gravy and let it come to a boil,after it comes to a boil add salt as per taste, tamarind pulp, fried potato cubes and let it come to another boil.
7. After it comes to a boil add the fried fish pieces gently, mix everything and cook it for another 2-3 minutes.
8. Now finally add garam masala powder and garnish it with chopped cilantro leaves. Your fish curry with potato in coconut gravy is ready to serve.